Katherine A. v. Jerry A., 23-ica-427 & 23-ica-462

Katherine A. (Mother) and Jerry A. (Father) divorced after living together in Ohio County, West Virginia, and share two children.
Mother, a high-earning professional with significant travel for work, sought permission to relocate with the children to Washington, D.C. for a new job; Father, a teacher’s aide, declined to relocate.
The family court originally denied Mother’s relocation request, finding Father's involvement outweighed Mother’s daily caregiving; on appeal, that order was reversed and remanded for further consideration under the West Virginia relocation statute.
On remand, the family court again denied Mother’s relocation request, finding it was in the children’s best interest to stay with Father and that Mother had not shown she sought reasonable alternative employment closer to her home.
Mother moved for reconsideration, which was denied; both orders were appealed and consolidated before the Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether best interests of the children support relocation with Mother to D.C.	Mother argued best interests served by her relocation and caregiving, with supportive maternal family	Father, supported by active extended family, argued children’s interests served by stability with him in WV	Court affirmed lower court’s finding that children’s best interests supported staying in WV
Whether Mother sought "reasonable alternatives" to relocation per statute	Mother argued she applied for local jobs and D.C. offer was legitimate	Father argued one local job application insufficient and other regional firms not attempted	Court found Mother did not meet burden to show no reasonable alternative existed
Whether family court misapplied evidence and made erroneous factual findings	Mother claimed omissions, new findings, and gender bias in weighing parenting duties	Father and court found caregiving was equal, but Father’s quality time and extended family weighed in	Court held evidence supported family court’s findings and discretion was not abused
Use of judicial notice regarding alternative job opportunities	Mother objected to use of judicial notice about regional law firms without giving her a chance to respond	Father/court argued Mother had ample notice to present evidence on job search, judicial notice proper	Court found no error or abuse of discretion in the use of judicial notice

Galloway v. Galloway, 224 W. Va. 272 (child’s best interest is the controlling consideration in custody matters)
In re Tiffany Marie S., 196 W. Va. 223 (reviewing courts defer to family court’s findings unless clearly erroneous)
State v. Guthrie, 194 W. Va. 657 (appellate courts do not assess witness credibility or reweigh evidence)